Yellowverse world wide social challenge yourself challenge!

I LOVE running... when I do it. The problem is: I don't do it enough. There simply doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to do so and well... I'm way to attached to my laptop / ipad / MacBook / smartphone screen. I know I'm not alone in that and I need some motivation to get going again. So when I was talking to Garett Wolthuis (@GarrettWolthuis) last Wednesday night at BLUG and discovered he was the guy who wrote an amazing blog of his personal achievement of running a 5k last November a plan grew.
We challenged each other. Literally! We set a date: The weekend of May 19th and made the agreement to each run a 5k in that weekend and to motivate each other to train for that.
It is not about the time, it is not about the distance, it is not about the place it is about setting ourselves a challenge, motivating each other and sticking to it. And as we got talking we got some others involved too who are either going to be running or doing a hike. So yes Garrett, Paul, Kathy, Eileen and Steve and anybody else who wants to join; you don't know it yet but I am going to keep you to that pledge as I need that stick behind the door to do this :)

Great idea? Well lets see, I need some serious training to get back in shape and I know that I will need you guys to help me do this. A social experiment? You bet! What better way to test the strength of the social idea in our community then to use it to motivate each other through Social Media to do a physical challenge.

So this is day 1. And I am heading for my first #YellowverseRun training run. It is going to be a challenge I'm sure but I'm up for it knowing I'll have some supporters who will kick my butt if I don't and give me an encouraging (virtual) arm around my shoulder when needed.

It's time to man up and start doing, social running here we go!

The Virtual Super bowl party – game time the social way!

Yesterday (or should I say last night) was an absolute first. Attending my first ever real American Super Bowl party and watching the game with a group of Americans and Australians. So did I fly over for a quick weekend break?!? Nop, I attended right from my own couch in my own living room.

It all started a couple of weeks ago when my twitter stream exploded on NFL tweets by @CuriousMitch  and me reacting to that

Before I knew it I was involved in a whole conversation stretching out over multiple days about the merits of American Football and culminating in getting myself invited for a Super Bowl party to be hosted by Mitch. He was having some guests over to his house and invited a bunch of others to join in through a Google hangout so that we could all enjoy it together from our respective living room (and time zone!).

Now I did have to think about it for a minute as I realized I would have to take a day off (game started at midnight Sunday night and was going to last at least 3 hours according to those who knew). But I was more then willing to do that, seeing it as a great social & cultural experiment to see if Social Media really could make this possible. Plus anyone that knows me knows I’m always in for something crazy and this one certainly fell into that category!
There was only one problem, I had absolutely no clue about American Football!.... And so I was drilled and grilled over the last two weeks through Twitter and Skype by several people about everything NFL and American Football. Waking up to tweets like this

And even getting a visual demonstration with diagrams and lots of arrows through a LotusLive meeting & Skype.

All leading up to the big event: The game.

 A multi layered play in 4 acts played out on the field, in a Google Hangout, on Twitter and on Facebook.

I loved it! 

Not just because I like being part of big parties (which the Super Bowl certainly is) but also because it shows the power of Social Media and the cultural shift it is bringing about. Who would have thought 10 years ago that something like this would even be possible and that I would be able to enjoy a ‘cold one and a game' from my living room in The Netherlands with people in Australia and the USA? Allowing me a very personal and up close glimpse into their worlds, living rooms and passion for American Football.

So what have I learned from all this? 

• Taco's & Chili in at least 5 variations seems to be the favorite US Super Bowl party food 
• American Football can be fun and exciting once you get a basic grip of the game rules. Even if they drag out a one hour game to 4 hours easily 
• Australia really is sunny this time of year (Yes, I know mentally that it's summer over there right now but seeing it just makes it real) 
  
• Getting a social crash course on game rules through Twitter, Skype and LotusLive works and is much more fun then learning the old fashioned way!
• Google Hangouts actually lives up to what it says it does (really impressed after 5 hours of continuous and error-less ‘Hanging out’ with 6-8 others) 
• I have friends here in NL that were watching the game as well (found out through Facebook halfway through the game). Setting up a date to do next year’s Super Bowl together 
• I should never drink Redbull at 3:30AM if I want to have any chance of sleeping anytime soon (couldn’t fall asleep until 6:30)

So.... having a 'virtual' party like this doesn't necessarily trump the real live experience and might, by some, be considered really geeky. But getting this group from 3 continents together otherwise would have simply been impossible. It just added a whole new layer to being social, showing how Social Media and online collaboration tools really do stimulate cultural learning and exchange. And in doing so making the world a smaller place.

Thanks guys for making this an experience to remember! 

The Twitter censorship storm: Hype or reality wake-up call?

A storm has been raging on Twitter today after it announced on its corporate blog that it will implement an option to re-actively censor tweets or twitter accounts for readers in specific countries if a valid request to do so has been made by a legal entity. The example was given of France and Germany using this to block prohibited pro-Nazi statements.

It caused a host of blog posts and tweets from people strongly opposing this and calling it an infringement on the freedom of speech. Some better researched then others. Now Twitter certainly didn't do itself any favors announcing it the way they did and corrected it by adding more info about the solution to be implemented after the storm erupted but what does it really mean??

A lot has already been said about this so I'm not going to repeat it all but in short it boils down to this.

• Legal entities will be able to report Twitter accounts and individual tweet messages to Twitter and ask them to censor those to readers in a specific country based on local law.

• After reviewing Twitter might decide to honor the request. The specified Tweets/Accounts will not be deleted or blocked from posting but readers in the specified country will get a replacement text stating the account or tweet was blocked for that country. The text will still be available to readers in other countries.

• Censoring is done on a per request base, meaning tweets will not be blocked automatically but after they've been placed (except when accounts are blocked) and reported to Twitter.

• Determination of the users country is made based on IP address but can apparently be overruled by the users own country preference settings in the Twitter settings (I predict this option will be restricted pretty soon by the way if it is a working work around).

• Twitter is doing this to comply with local law but at the same time more or less says this doesn't mean it feels it has to agree with all regimes ideas of freedom of expression: "...we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there....".

• Some call Twitters' action a way of actually ensuring its existence as an activist platform in oppressive countries (link). Given the previous statement I doubt that. If regimes find that it is to much of an opposition platform they will block Twitter regardless of its policies.

• A large group of Twitter users is opposing this change by calling out for a #TwitterBlackOut on January 28th.

Ok, to be honest it really doesn't set off any alarm bells to me right now. I actually think Twitter has found a pretty nifty way of working around something that would have inevitable come around anyway. What some seem to forget is that Twitter is not an idealistic or activist entity that transcends laws, it's a company. With people working for it, offices, accountability and (uhoh... blasphemy) a goal of making money. That means it is required to obey the common law restrictions imposed on it by law makers as would any other company. And operating globally means being globally accountable.

The other thing that really intrigues me here is the fact that most people automatically associate this with the freedom of speech restrictions in oppressive countries while in fact most countries (including Europe and the United States) have certain restrictions on the absolute right to Freedom of Speech as well. Mostly when it comes to things like racial or religious hatred, discrimination and slander. So it isn't just about protecting itself and its employees from prosecution in rogue states and dictatorships, it's just as much a way of complying to the rules in open minded regions like Europe and the United States.

So do I think that what Twitter announced is a bad thing? Not necessarily. I regret it, but having to obey to law restrictions is an inevitable fact of live if you operate a company and at least they are making an effort to be open about it.
Am I opposed to the boycotting Twitter for a day (#TwitterBlackout)? No, but I think it should be about an awareness call to address the universal Freedom of Speech rights. Not to address a company trying to walk the tightrope between upholding the ideals of Freedom of Speech while obeying local law restrictions at the same time.

Confumbled - Social Media breaking down language borders

So I'm Dutch and I'm in no way a native English speaker. I do ok, blog in English, get myself understood and can even be relatively 'witty' in my Social Media responses. It has allowed me to interact and connect to numerous people around the world and it has even given me some new friends. Ok, yes, I know. How can you call them friends without ever meeting them?!? But with some of them they really do feel like friends.

And in about 48 hours I'm flying out to Lotusphere to actually meet them....

I can't wait! I look forward to really meeting these people but at the same time I'm a bit apprehensive too. Truth is that connecting over the internet really isn't the same as connecting in real life. Apart from the obvious facts that Social Media allows you to filter out the less attractive and boring elements of your personality it also helps eliminate language borders.

Again, as a non-native English speaker I think I do pretty well, but I do mess up.... regularly.... This has lead to several funny (and embarrassing) instances and confusions where I tried to express something which actually came out as something totally different.

My Dutch colleagues would now argue I don't just do that in English, bytheway...

Saving factor here though is that as Social Media is mostly a 'written' form of communication it has something of a grace period. Allowing you to at least think for two seconds and read back that post, tweet or chat message (as well as having a spelling control) before clicking the 'send' button. Believe me, I've become a regular speed-Googler over the last few months and have Urban Dictionary bookmarked as a favorite.  Problem is though, these don't yet come as build in options for my mind and so I will have to do without my regular safety nets next week...

....So that's why, even with all my enthusiasm about going to Lotusphere I'm also still feeling a bit apprehensive about talking to all of you with whom I've been chatting, Tweeting and Facebooking. Not knowing, whether I will be able to actually have the same kind of spontaneous interaction without having Google & spell checker at my fingertips is daunting....It almost feels like sitting my high school exams again.

Luckily for me I'm also pretty sure most of you guys will forgive me for my little language-mishaps. And if I do 'confumble' my English big time and mess up I can only hope you guys will look through it and have a laugh with me about it. It's all in good spirit!

Instagram - Let's capture the LS12 mood!

I stumbled upon Instagram a while back. A nifty little iPhone app (I don't have an iPhone but use it on my iPad) that lets you quickly share photo's that portray your mood of the moment to the world. Not whole series but snapshots that really give others a quick glimpse of what you're up to. The simple interface and the nice filters let you enhance the pictures before posting them and make it a joy to work with.

I love it! It's just another form of social Media but in some cases a picture says more then a 1000 words and as it allows you to post the pictures to Twitter and Facebook as well it's a great alternative if words fall short (or inspiration is lacking).

Last Week, after posting an Instagram picture, Bruce Elgort DM'ed me a link with the text "Working on this....".
On opening the link I got a collection of Instagram pictures for Lotusphere and IBM Connect..... Now I didn't realize immediately what I was looking at and as the pictures were from previous Lotusphere's it took me a while to realize what he and Serdar Besegmez had been working on. A site that collects all the Instagram pictures (regardless of who's posting it) that contain the #ls12 tag and shows them in one big photo album overview. Of course the current selection is very limited but come Jan 15.....

So I love this initiative. We're all going to follow what is going on around Lotusphere on Twitter, on Facebook, on the communities but what better way to portray the mood and excitement of the community coming together then pictures!
So if you've got an iPhone or iPad then download instagram and start posting. And while at Lotusphere take a picture of what Lotusphere is to you and post it to Instagram with the #LS12 tag. It'll be a great way of looking back on the event of the year!

Serdar & Bruce thanks for coming up with this!

Trusting the social way

In 2009 I was on a IBM Redbook team, today I am again.

I love it. This is such a great opportunity to learn, to meet, to share and to get a glimpse into how other people topple topics like Social, Collaboration and connecting at the business level.

I've come a long way over the last few years. Back then I arrived in Cambridge, MA for a three week Residency not knowing anything about the people I was about to experience a very intensive three weeks with. Being hesitant and even feeling a bit awkward. Apart from their names I didn't have a clue who they were and what they did. Getting to know them took several days.

This time things are different, totally different.

Right from the moment I got my acceptance letter I started connecting. Googling the names in the mail, finding, following and interacting with them on Twitter, trying to get an idea who they were from their Social profiles and reading up on blogs and published materials. Now not all of them had an online (public) presence but in general you can find a lot. And so it was that when I flew out to Raleigh, NC on Saturday I'd already arranged to meet up for dinner that night through twitter and spent the rest of the weekend exploring Raleigh together.

No, not people I had previously met but people I only knew from twitter and who's only connection with me was that we were all going to be on the same Residency. By using social tools to connect we got a head start in talking about the things we were going to talk about in the Residency, getting an idea of each persons specialties, interests and areas of expertise and doing exactly what we where there for: Share & learn.
 
So when I tweeted about being in the ITSO Redbook facility with the Social Business Social Media team today and got this tweet reply:

@FemkeGoedhart LOL why does the "social team" need to get together in person...or even use email for that matter? #justteasing

I couldn't help but reflect on that. Because although I really love and 'live' the Social ideal, I also believe that it is NOT a replacement for face-to-face meetings in doing business. It's not there to take over or replace. Its simply a strategy to build stronger ties, be it active (by engaging with people) or inactive (by sharing so people can find you and learn about you). But more importantly it is about building trust. If you would have said three years ago that I would fly half across the world, arrive, meet up with this person I'd never seen or talked too before and had only exchanged about four 140 character messages with and go out for dinner 3 minutes later.....I think I would have declared you crazy.

Social has come a long way in making this possible and we're only at the beginning. It is about being out there and being true to yourself and your environment. It's about accountability that fosters trust and its about enjoying that human need for connection.

So call me an idealist but in a world torn apart by wars and mistrust  the 'Social' revolution clearly proofs that that fundamental need for a human connection is as strong as ever. Especially in Business.

Google+ Ripples #2

In October I wrote a blog on Ripples a Google+ feature that shows you how your public posts are being shared accross yours as well as others networks. I loved it (and still do) but somehow I never got to see the Ripples link when I was browsing my stream.

As I knew a workaround by getting the post id and copying it into a Ripples URL I could use it but that was far from easy and I couldn't figure out why I didn't get to see the Ripples option in the post menu's. Today I finally figured it out.  

Could it be it simply wasn't available for my language? Nah...surely not! 

But to make absolutely sure I tried setting my Google settings language from Dutch (my native language) to US English and bingo there was the "View Ripples" option.

Apparently Ripples is only there for the English speaking folks as its not showing up if you set your language to Dutch, French or German (didn't try any other languages but pretty sure most wont work either). I'm reporting this to Google, let's see why they aren't showing this to us. If it's simply a question of translations then surely 6 weeks should have been more than enough to translate that 1 paragraph of text on the Ripples page. But even without translation I really would have liked having this so please open it up!

The class of 2011.....social media

http://www.flowtown.com

Social translate... Google Giveth and Taketh

For the last year and a half or so I've been an avid user of Yoono. A browser plugin that allows me to review and update my Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Foursquare activity streams from within a side bar in my Firefox. I love it. It's easy, simple and because it's integrated in the browser it always keeps my Social streams in my perephial view. Right where I like it to be.

Now one of the things that I discovered recently is that it has a function to translate tweets right there and then in the sidebar itself. Simply right click the tweet and select "Translate (via google)". The translated text is shown right there and then in your stream.

Ok, yes. Google translations aren't exactly accurate all the time but in general they do the trick. And it means I could follow people I would otherwise not, simply because I can't understand a thing they are saying.


Like Mitsuru Katoh (Katoman), a Fellow self-proclaimed Domino Geek and IBM Champion from Japan. My Japanese is next to zero so this translate function really helped me and made it possible for me to socially connect to someone I would otherwise probably not even know about.


Unfortunately this morning the translate function didn't work and a tweet to @YoonoSupport helped clarify:  

@Yoono The translate (Google) function doesn't seem to work this morning. Anything going on?

 Bummer! 

Ok, I can understand Google wanting to make a buck out of this (although I'd wonder who'd want to pay for the crappy translations they give) but maybe Google had an alternative reason as well. I can (somewhat) understand them trying to promote their own networks so maybe this is a function they wanted to keep free exclusively for their own platforms..... aka Google+! I know Mitsuru is on G+ so lets check it out.....
Well, you guessed it. No function there to translate from within the stream itself.

Yes I know about the other Google translate options for translating whole sites but that is not really an option to me. As a Dutch national I read & write in English, Dutch, German and (a little) French and I follow people in all of those languages. Now I don't need (or want!) those translated as that sometimes means you lose part of the underlying sentiments and jokes. I want to be able to control which tweets I want translated and which I want to read in their original language. And I want to do it from within my active streams itself, not by having to step out to a different site. That takes out the whole social context in which I'm operating.

 So for now it seems I will have to unfollow Mitsuru... Not because he's not nice or interesting but simply because I can't understand his tweets (Sorry Mitsuru, I'll buy you a drink at Lotusphere).

Oh and for those (like me) wondering what that second tweet form Mitsuru said? I ran it through the ordinary translator and it came up as "That I was better with an umbrella. Worry.". 

I guess it was raining in Japan :-) 

Who is using Google+ ..... infographic

Interesting infographic by www.flowtown.com on the usage of Google+. There have been a lot of jokes around the internet on whether or not Google+ is really being used or if, after the initial hype most users returned to their old and familiar platforms. This seems confirmed by this infographic that shows only 17% of registered Google+ users is considered 'Active' and a 'Frequent Google+ user'.

So did they loose the battle? No, I don't think so. If you manage to pull in over 40 million users within a couple of months you must be doing something right. They just have to find their edge and unique selling point and that 83% that is currently inactive will be flocking back. The problem seems to be though that they don't really know yet what that unique selling point is....


Flowtown - Social Media Marketing Application

Social calendar

I found this great blogpost on what 'Social Business' is. Read it its worth it.

What prompted me to actually search for it was that I lay in bed yesterday checking my calendar for this weekend realizing it was empty and that I was happy with two days of no obligations and appointments. It made me very aware of the fact that for the last year or so I've been really busy. With work, with friends, with running but mostly with being 'social'.

True, I've always been somewhat of a workaholic, checking my mail day and night, happily responding to messages at all hours of the day. But as most people (unlike me) shut their mail down when they go home around five it meant that the number of messages outside of office hours was limited.
That changed however when I became more socially active. The difference is that unlike mail, social micro blogging isn't confined to work only. People micro blog about everything from work to hobbies to kids to personal challenges. Not just during office hours but at all hours of the day. Offering an inside glimps to who they are, but more importantly: Humanizing them. And that is a real revolution.
I now sometimes meet customers and relations I've never seen or talked to before but that feel like old acquaintances simply because I've interacted with them in chats and on social platforms far before they even got to be of interest business wise. And because it's two way you are more familiar to them too, taking away normal barriers that are put up in business relations. Yes, you make yourself vulnerable but what you gain is trust and a deeper relation and that to me is totally worth it.

I immediately hear the 'but....' coming from all corners here. Because how does this improve your business?!? and How do you make socializing cost effective??

Well read that blogpost I mentioned at the start, I'm not going to repeat what was said in there but two of the poignant things that really hit home for me were:

"The historical [...] separation between the inside and the outside environments of a company is loosing importance"

"The ultimate reason of existence for the [social] corporation is no longer to generate value for its traditional stakeholders but to maximize the exchanged value between the company and the entire ecosystem". 

 Hello world! Its no longer about just making big bucks and putting up a nice facade to the outside world its about really working together at a personal level. Putting the individuals in the center of the process, not just the mechanism of work. Respecting that we all are part of the process and that each of us, whether you are a customer, contractor, relation or supplier, has a personal as well as corporate gain. And that by realizing and utilizing that we ALL stand to win.

Why? Well because when you see and respect that everyone involved has more to offer than just what was said on their job description, you suddenly end up getting much more value for your money. Suddenly you find that people are more than just output machines but that they are human beings with creativity, ingenuity, knowledge and intuition. Some of which might not even be related to work at all. But that by bringing all that together you end up getting something that is much more valuable and stronger than what any individual, even 'Guru' could realize. It's no longer internal vs external, contractor vs client its teamwork.

So how does that make it cost effective? Well sometimes you have to 'give a little to get a little' but in general working together like this enhances the products, improves employee involvement and builds stronger business relations making the difference in getting future projects. And that to me is making my work a real joy. I'm a people person. I love to connect to people. And for the first time I'm seeing that that part of me is not just something I do because I like it but something that is actually becoming an integral part of my job and can help drive revenue.
 
And it's not just my work that is changing because of this. It's my personal life too. As stated above I've always spend lots of time on my work and people have accused me of having no personal life at all. Maybe they were right for a while there.... I've always been good at my job, but although I'm ambitious I never saw myself as a 'guru' and for years that made me feeling insignificant and holding back. I had trouble defining who I was and what I had to offer.
What changed is that I started realizing that I didn't have to be a 'guru' to contribute and that just being me in all it's uniqueness as a human being was more then enough as that made me a valuable part of the process and of the teams that I operate in. Both personal as well as professionally.

'Wisdom of the crowds' already described how crowds know so much more then individuals but its the Social revolution that is giving a platform to those crowds to actually leverage that wisdom. So bring it on! I love this new era in business. It's daunting and challenging and we are destined to make mistakes but as long as we do it together I'm sure we are on the right track.

And in the mean time I'm going to enjoy my busy calendar and Social activities and live life to the fullest. Because for the first time in my live I can truly say that my work is my hobby and NOT feel insecure about it.

IBM Social Business social media residency

You know that Redbook Residency I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.....?

Well I got accepted! So for the next three weeks I will be in frantic mode to get everything arranged, book flights, reschedule appointments, rearrange work and concentrate on Social Business. Fantastically exciting times! Will of course keep everyone posted about it through this blog, Facebook & Twitter.

But in the mean time don't hesitate to point me to relevant topics and information to take along for this residency. It's called the "IBM Social Business social media residency" so what better way to start than to involve my Social network!

IBM redbook site

#StuffIBMersSay

Hot trending topic around the Lotus community on twitter tonight: #StuffIMBersSay. All kinds of things IBM people have said that are silly, funny or simply plain absurd. Good fun and definitely worth reading! It was started by two IBM'ers as a joke apparently but spread around the world in hours, reaching thousands of IBM'ers, business partners and customers.

Humor is the best way to communicate, Social Media is the perfect platform. That was definitely proven tonight!


Small selection of those tweets below. Spotting a trend here....There is a lot of web and phone conferences going on!

@DelphineRB:  Do you mean 3pm ET or GMT or EST or CET ? #stuffibmersay

@kate_motzer: "Someone is breathing heavy into the phone - can you please go on mute?" #stuffIBMerssay

@seralewis: Did anyone hear the recording start? #stuffIBMerssay

@FlemChrist: I swear that guy writing the Dilbert cartoon works here. #stuffibmerssay

@creckling: sorry i'm late, i was looking for a hotspot. #stuffIBMerssay

@ragtag: "Larry? Larry? I think we lost Larry" #stuffIBMerssay

@Chappers5: Can everyone on the call press *6* please as there is a dog barking in the background #stuffibmerssay

@wesmorgan1: Working as designed. #stuffibmerssay

@tpeisel: I can do that @2 ...i'm only doublebooked then #stuffibmerssay

@FemkeGoedhart: "Let me just mute my cat for a moment" #stuffibmerssay

@HP_Dalen: Will you action these deliverables? #stuffibmerssay

@linny2777: well - we have beaten that horse dead #stuffibmerssay

@wesmorgan1: We'll do a 360 postmortem on that... #stuffibmerssay

@mmoyer: We'll start as soon as the speakers join the call. #stuffibmerssay

@mmoyer: Who's on the call but not in the meeting? #stuffibmerssay

@blm849: Let's put that in the parking lot and then circle back at the end of the call #stuffibmerssay 

@lina_farr: Can't do that right now, I'm in a sea of red! Ping you when I'm free... #stuffibmerssay

ps. Seeing a perfect opportunity here for IBM to use it's new Analytic tools to analyze this social phenomena!

 

public hashtag report

Bye bye email?!?

The Social Business revolution is here. We are living in a new world and one of the 'old' relics being under attack is email. Email a relic?? Yes in the eyes of some, it is outdated and in need of retirement. Nowadays it's all about new forms of communication. more direct, more interactive, less static...and all kinds of initiatives like 'Global No Email Day' and IBM's 'OutsideTheInbox' are started to get people to realize this.
I can totally relate to this idea. Mainly because it seems that lately it isn't us that is consuming mail but the mail that is consuming us. More importantly: consuming our time.

Ok, so I agree, but then I started thinking. How many mails do I actually get in a day.....? 
I've got 5 email addresses. One for work, one for friends, one for non-work-non-friend related stuff I deem important and 2 for spam. I use those last two when I need to register on some obscure site and I never check those two unless I'm looking for something specific. So those don't really count towards my email consumption. The other three gave me a total of 12 messages today, 7 of which were notifications from other systems.
Now that isn't extreme! That is actually pretty low if you consider I work in IT and was working at home today. I know people that get hundreds of messages, especially while working at home. So why don't I? Does this mean I don't work, don't communicate.....?? No, I actually communicated with several of my colleagues and customers today as well as had interactions with several people around the globe. So lets analyze this....

I started the day with an email notification from Quickr about a document I'd put up for review. It was reviewed by a customer in the USA and she'd updated the document in the Quickr environment and used the notification option to let me know. As I noticed the customers project leader was online on Greenhouse Sametime I used this to have a short discussion about the review.

I then proceeded with opening our new IBM Connections test environment that we set up specifically for demonstrations to customers. To get some filling all employees were asked to fill out their own fictional profile as well as provide some fake content. While doing this I noticed some problems with the test installation. Instead of using mail I put a message on the Administrators notice board, telling him about the problem.

He responded back on the board which was promptly shown in my Status Update widget in my Lotus Notes client.

Now I could just as easily have used our internal Tweet application as well but as it was Connection related it seemed logical to respond within the environment itself. Using mail didn't cross my mind once.

Roughly at the same time I was invited into a Skype call by another customer. During this call I had to verify something with a co-worker and with a Partner of us. So I used LotusLive Sametime to connect to my co-worker and set up a second Skype chat to ask my partner contact. He wasn't up yet (Canadian) so I just left him a message in his chat to pick up when he returned.

While all this was going on I was also setting up a test environment for a migration project. It was not exactly going as planned and I used Twitter and Facebook to vent some of the frustrations with getting the thing to work. Apart from the fact this helped me to vent some of my frustration it also delivered a handy tip from a guy that responded to my tweet and sent me a helpful link.
Through the social media app I use I also noticed a new invitation request on LinkedIn that turned out to be a business relation that wanted to connect. As I'd been wanting to talk to this person for a while I used the opportunity to send him a direct message in LinkedIn and set up a phone call.

For the rest of the day I made several phone calls to customers & relations, used text messaging to make an appointment with a good friend, had a lengthy call with a co-worker on the server I was trying to set up and congratulated my niece with her birthday on Facebook.

So looking back on my day and talking about the 'Less mail' initiatives, I can honestly say I'm actually doing pretty well already. I'm not email-free yet (nor do I want to be, there's always something that is better done through mail) but in general I can definitely say I'm not being consumed by my inbox.

There is however another side to this. Remember that Skype chat I started with the Canadian guy that wasn't online yet? He did get back to me but by that time it was evening here. And that is the whole crux in this story....

Because one of the downsides of using more interactive forms of communications like Social Media, Skype and Sametime is that it is stretching my day. Timezone differences mean I have to adept to other peoples day regimes if I want to speak, chat, Sametime or Skype with them and that means I tend to spend a lot more time at night behind my laptop, sometimes stretching well into the night.

So are these forms of social communications the future? Yes, definitely! It allows you to not just  communicate  but to really build a relation with the other person, something that email just didn't do. But I don't think it will put email out of business yet. If not for the fact that lots of people still are hooked on mail then for the sanity of those that need to sleep....

Redbook recidency

In 2009 I had the honor of being chosen to be a part of the last formal Redbook by the Lotus brand. It was the "Self Assessment and Strategy Guide for Migrating from Domino Document Manager" Redbook. A Redbook that tried to help customers on DomDoc make their choise as to how to migrate of that platform as it was being discontinued.

I'd always hoped to be a part of a Redbook team but never really thought I made a chance and when the number of Redbooks being publiced for Lotus products diminished so was my hope of ever being part of one...
So that Friday morning in 2009 when my boss sent out a message asking if there was anyone interested in doing a Redbook I lept at the opportunity. I never even hesitated and just replied immediately. This was my chance, and I had to take it! Two weeks later after a couple of hectic weeks arranging things, I boarded a plane for a 3 week residency in Cambridge, MA.

It was everything I hoped for. The discussions we had as a team and with product specialists, developers and Brand managers of IBM. The opportunities we got, to see new developments, test them and write on them and the feeling of being able to create something that would help thousands of people do their migration... It was better then I had hoped for.
But it was hard work too! The 3 week residency itself was only the beginning. After that a 6 month period of writing, revising, rewriting and discussing (skype) started. All of which happened mostly at night or in weekends as my daily job didn't stop either. Part of my task was to write a chapter on the comparison between Quickr and DomDoc and a chapter that outlined a step-by-step actual migration using a migration tool. I think I did at least 50 test migrations for that one alone. There were times that I got really fed up by it all.

So when the postman finally came to deliver that hard copy of the Redbook with my name on it. I was sad and happy at the same time. It had been hard work but it was so rewarding. Most importantly it showed me that I had something to offer. Be it small, I could actually help other people. For someone who used to be very shy and insecure that was a real eye opener. Since then I've become more outward going, wrote blogs and articles, spoke at conferences, became very active on Social Media and connected more to other people in the professional community.

No wonder that when I saw this on facebook last night....

....I couldn't help but jump for it again. It might not be a Redbook in the way I did it before, it does incorporate everything I love and do so I would be crazy not to! At the same time I'm aware that this Residency is going to be really popular and that my chances of being picked are slim at best.
But if there's anything I learned from my Redbook experience it is that you have to grab any chance you get! Besides, even if I don't get picked I still got the thrill of reliving the great times I had again.

So if you are considering nominating yourself but not yet sure?... I can say only one thing: Go for it, take that chance! This could change your life. It did for me!

Choices.... where to post what

Nop, not mine but so excellent I can't help but post it. Love the Google+ one as it is so accurate!!!

I got it from Facebook but the original actually came from this blog post.

Social Media Myth Buster

Great video by Louis Richardson on Social Media Myths from a keynote he gave in Danmark. Worth taking the time to look at if your company is wondering why it should become 'social'.

Google+ continued

Ok, now the whole Google+ hype has died down a bit and most of my 'friends' activities are back to normal (e.g. Twitter & Facebook) they've finally officially released it to wider audience. Unofficially everybody could join anyway (simple get an invite from someone already on it), but now it's open to the bigger community.

As my earlier posts might have already demonstrated I'm still not fully convinced on Google+. Ok, yes I can see they've got some really nice things in there and their interface is slick but after two months the main feeling I get from Google+ is:

Who the He.. are all those people adding me to their circles??

I mean I've posted only about 20 posts on Google+ in the last two months but had over a 100 people actively adding me to their circles. It took me a lot longer to get even close to these numbers on Twitter or Facebook. The problem is though that out of that 100 a considerable amount of people who added me really don't seem to be interested in what I am about. They're just following me so that I follow them back it seems.
On Facebook where you need to actively accept friendships I know or at least can place anyone I befriended and on Twitter, where following someone means their posts show up in your main stream I know or can place at least 80% of my followers. On Google+ however you can add someone and then just park them in a circle. There is no investment it seems. So although Google+ does seem to yield more 'followers', I feel less connected to them. And that makes it a lot less 'social'  to me.

Social Networking for me is all about broadening your community and I would lie if I said I was immune to the joys of seeing my followers list grow. Your social reach (follower base) is more or less the currency in Social networking. It determines how well your message gets around and it allows you to build relations with people you would otherwise never meet. But it's not just the amount of followers you have that is important but also why those people would want to follow you. Are they genuinely interested in what you have to say or just adding you in the hopes of being followed back?!?
How valuable are followers on Google+ as social contacts if they have the ability to add you and then bury you in a never read circle?? Ok they are 'following' you but they might never actually read any of what you are posting. And that is exactly what makes me feel less connected to them and less inclined to actually post on Google+.

A lot of the people that added me on Google+, I feel, were just doing that: Hoping that adding me would mean I add them back ('I follow you if you follow me'). When I don't follow them back a lot of them removed me from their circles just as easily as they added me in the first place.
True, this happens on all social networks, including Facebook & Twitter but with the circles model of Google+ it just becomes so much easier to distinguish between the people you are really interested in and the ones you simply added as 'social currency' that it makes it feel impersonal to me. It sort of sucks out the Social aspect of it all.

So on we go. I'm not counting out Google+ yet. I still think it's a strong contender that will grow significantly. I think a second grow spurt will happen when the full Google+ API's will be released. Allowing social apps like Tweetdeck, Yoono, Hootsuite, etc to incorporate it. So avid Social users like me can post to it simultaneously with our other social networks (Facebook, Twitter, linkedIn, etc). Until then it will remain something I look at periodically but hardly use I guess...

Social Media Week & IBM's new approach to collaborative intelligence gathering

It's Social Media Week! Did you know? Ok, I'll admit I didn't either until it was pointed out to me. But there are some really interesting experiments going on this week around the topic 'Social'.

IBM is joining in and performing a Smarter Commerce Scan.
An experiment where they are trying to see if it is possible to gather intelligence by posting tantalizing topics around different aspects of Social Commerce to the Social grid. Each day a new question is posted and by the end of the week an Executive summary will be made highlighting key themes and trends as well as top responses.


The first question posted:

One of the central tenets in the emerging idea of “social business” is that people do business with other people, not companies:
How should all aspects of commerce — selling, buying, providing service, developing products and marketing them — become more human? More centered on building and maintaining relationships? More personal and personalized?

Wanna join the discussion?
Check the IBMSocBiz on Tumblr site for daily topics & responses and follow the hashtag #IBMSocBiz. Answer through Tumblr or use the hashtag #smwQ1 ('Q1' for the question of the day) in your social streams. There's even an app for iPhone & Android (see tumblr site).
Make your voice be heard, Social is the way to go!

Get in touch!

You would think that getting in touch with people has become a whole lot easier since we've all become so 'social'. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Connections, IM, chats, etc. You could even say that in some cases it's hard NOT to. But still I find that really getting 'in touch'  sometimes is a challenge. Take a recent situation I encountered.

I wanted to ask a distant social business contact something that required some delicacy and a personal touch. I didn't know the person 'in person' (there's an ocean between us) but I 'knew' her on Twitter, Facebook, through Connections, Sametime and even through a persistent Skype chat group. More then enough venues I guess to contact her. But this was harder than I thought.

First I considered the Connections link I had to her. The question was related to that anyway so this seemed logical. The problem though was that she hadn't listed her contact details and I wasn't about to put my question on her public message stream.
Next was twitter but that is mostly public and even when I had used a DM I couldn't really get my question into a 140 character text anyway. So that one was out of the question too.
Facebook wasn't ideal either. On reviewing her Facebook stream I figured she used it strictly for non- business related stuff and as it was a business related question I didn't want to use that route (DM or Chat) for a business related question. Even social business has its etiquette.....

So I looked on. She didn't have a blog (I knew about or could find) and on LinkedIn I found several people matching here name, most without pictures, so no luck there either.
My last chance seemed to be the Sametime and Skype chat. Not ideal but it would at least allow me to ask her for her mail address.  The problem was though that she wasn't online much and by the time she was, I wasn't (that darn ocean again!).

This was frustrating! Here I am, connected to this person on at least 3 social networks and 2 IM systems and still I had trouble getting in touch with her! Having this persons email address would have saved me a lot of trouble. In stead I had all these social links but no decent way of getting in touch.

So in the end I solved it the old fashioned way. I called her company switchboard and asked for her.

Ironic isn't it? That even with all these digital channels and links to her I finally had to resort to the old fashioned phone call to really get in touch...